Dec 30, 2013

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» About the book that shall not be named and resembles none that I will write. A sort of #Review

About the book that shall not be named and resembles none that I will write. A sort of #Review

Posted by Wendy Ewurum |&nbsp at 2:20 PM

I have just finished the worst book I have ever had the misfortune of coming across.
I have read a great many books - good ones, magnificent ones and the bad ones that I don’t like to dwell on.
From the bad books pile I have read books that start off well and then somehow lose momentum and plot and go nowhere.

Ones that leave you feeling like you are in the doldrums from beginning to end.
I have read books that have been nothing but an anti-climax compared to the hype associated with them. Especially Blog review type hype, I think I’ve previously written about some of them here.
Books where a great writer perhaps due to pressure to produce on schedule has lost their spark, the X-factor is just no longer there. Oh my darling Marianne Keyes and Patricia Cornwell's Scarpetta …not to mention Jonathan Kellerman (oh I loved that man) come to mind here..

But none of these unpleasant books even come close to the horrid mess this one was.

You will notice that I have left out the title of the book, I’m not into naming and shaming but I can share an opinion. I did very nicely tell the author I just could not give her a review.

You may be wondering why I even bothered to pick it up for review. Well, I made this promise to review back in the day when I only relied on the book blurbs and other reviewer’s opinions on Amazon as to whether or not I would review. That’s number one. So I just had to fulfill a promise to the writer.
Number two, it has the most beautiful of titles and cover, plus a fantastic book blurb. I notice that on Amazon it only has two reviews and they are both 5 star. Go figure.

Number three: once I started reading it, it was literally like experiencing that train wreck moment people refer to. You know it’s bad but you can’t help but keep coming back. It is so bad that it’s not the kind of book I could throw away because I kept asking myself writer questions as I read and I was so bewildered by the absurdity of the story and its flow (or lack thereof) that I was finally convinced that there really are authors who either don’t bother to get their books beta read, edited or they have the worst editors in the world.

Which is such a darn shame because the idea behind the book was a brilliant one but there is one significant point in the middle where everything just unraveled beyond repair. Had time been spend on developing the story line and making cohesive connections I think it would have come off as one of those readers call original, gripping and intriguing because truly the story the writer was trying to tell was an original spin on vampire and shaman lore.
Yes, that’s the worst bit. It was paranormal….why oh why!!! It was a travesty that I hoped would come to a miraculous point of redemption.

What lessons have I thus far then learnt.

That as I write my own book, I had better love on the glow produced by my first draft as much as possible because as far as I can see, it all goes downhill from there, That is if want to produce a great book worth reading.

I have to make peace with the idea that i may have to kill off my favorite people, totally butcher my favorite scenes because perhaps no one will think them brilliant but me.
Then learn to fall in love all over again with a bastard child born out of me and other people. People who out of the best intentions such as the beta readers and editors will tell me in feedback:

maybe consider doing this;

take away that,

look at it from this angle or

that is just bollocks Wendy no better word for it other than “crap”.

These people who will not allow me to settle for writing just a book to indulge my own ego but a book I thought beyond my abilities…

One of the valuable lessons this book has taught me is that you DO need to read some bad ones to see in practice writing crimes committed and it gave me a sense of perspective and deeper understanding of some of the lessons taught in the writing books and tutorials I read.
The good ones are wonderful because they are what I aspire for one day, but the bad ones are what not to be in practice. I doubt very much that I will ever be able to write like Toni Morrison but darn it I will give it my best effort to get the same effect of awe and wonder from my readers one day.

Most know me as the author to Fabulosity Reads and in actual fact, that is the previous name of this blog. I have since then moved my books to a Wordpress self-hosted blog so that I can have a place to show a different side of me which I am equally passionate about and that is marketing and personal development. I hope you will love being here, watching me grow as I share and learn. My highest hope is that we will grown and learn together in all disciplines affecting our lives. I'd LUUURRRVE to hear from you, so don't be shy...